One of the requirements imposed upon tracked vehicles intended for applications in sensitive, and possibly protected, natural environments is that loading of the ground by a running gear, and by a caterpillar chain moved thereby, be limited or limitable. This category of tracked vehicles includes, in particular, snow vehicles such as, for example, piste vehicles and, for example, loipe grooming vehicles. A design that meets such a requirement to spare the terrain also renders such tracked vehicles suitable for use in a terrain that has yielding ground, for example in biotopes such as moorland. If the ground has scarcely any covering of snow and ice, or none at all, a tracked vehicle such as, for example, a piste groomer can be equipped with a known summer chain that is adapted, in particular, to ground that is free of snow and ice.
Caterpillar chains for such tracked vehicles are constructed in such a manner that their own weight contributing to the total weight of the tracked vehicle is relatively low, as compared with running chains for heavy vehicles such as, for example, heavy construction machines. Moreover, as well as a length of the running gear of the tracked vehicle, a width of the caterpillar chain is usually designed such that a weight of the tracked vehicle as a whole is distributed to a comparatively large traction surface area, in order to limit pressure exerted upon the ground.
A known option for enlarging the contact surface area consists in combining a caterpillar chain from a traction chain and one or more lateral chains, the traction chain and the lateral chains being connected to each other by means of caterpillar cleats. The traction chain in this case is designed to transmit the propulsive force from a driving wheel to the caterpillar chain, for which reason the traction chain has a track, which is defined by track guide elements and which is on an inner side that faces toward the running gear, for guiding the running gear of the tracked vehicle. Owing to the comparatively low weight of, for example, snow vehicles, the traction chain for a piste vehicle may be made, for example, of an elastic, in particular elastomeric, base material. A traction means, in particular composed of a plurality of chain links in an endless configuration, can be embedded in the traction chain, e.g. in the elastomeric material of the basic chain, for transmitting acceleration and braking forces of a driving wheel to the running gear, in particular to the caterpillar chain. The traction means may be, for example, a woven fabric band composed of plastic fibers or, for example, a steel cable.